The boss of train company Avanti's parent company has been given a £1m share bonus in the week that his staff go out on strike. Alan Sutherland is the chief executive of FirstGroup which owns 70% Avanti West Coast - the rail company responsible for many services across north Wales including trains to London.
Avanti is warning passengers to "only travel if necessary" on Saturday, August 20 after strikes on August 18 caused mass disruption to the routes. The company has been running a reduced service for most of this week.
But on Thursday, the group's chief executive was given 972,590 shares which he will be able to cash in after five years, "subject to satisfaction of performance conditions and continued employment," the Mirror reports. As the share price for FirstGroup is £1.10, the shares are currently valued at just over £1m.
READ MORE: Exactly how train strikes on August 18 and August 20 will affect Wales
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham told the Mirror: “If these bosses had any decency they would read the room and hand these bonuses back.
"Passengers who have been forced to stand on packed services or left behind on platforms will be furious at these payments .It is nothing short of a disgrace and no clearer example of Tory Britain."
Mr Sutherland only joined FirstGroup in May. Chief Financial Officer Ryan Mangold also received a bonus of 1,003,226 shares as part of long-term bonus plans, and Mr Sutherland himself bought 100,000 shares for £115,000 on Wednesday.
Avanti West Coast had a cancellations score of 16.2% between June 26 and July 23 this year, which is the highest for the West Coast franchise since records began in 2014. The taxpayer money received by Avanti in the 2020/21 year included £943,000 for "customer experience."
Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh tweeted: “Shameless. And all the while ministers are handing over millions in ‘performance’ fees to this failing operator. They are all taking passengers for a ride."
A FirstGroup spokesperson said: “In line with our shareholder-approved policy, the Remuneration Committee fully considers the performance of the whole Group over the year alongside the experience of shareholders and our wider stakeholders. Shares awarded to the CEO are conditional upon the business meeting a range of financial and non-financial targets, including sustainability targets.”
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